HRH Prince Maurice Victor Donald of Battenberg
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- Born
- Balmoral Castle - 3 October 1891
- Died
- France and Flanders - 27 October 1914
- Age
- 23
- Death
- Killed in action
- Served in
- KRRC
- Awards
- Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, Mentioned in Dispatches
- Memorials
- Unknown
- Lived
- Unknown
Prince Maurice Victor Donald's story
Clearly not a Local Hero, this youngest grand-child of Queen Victoria was the only member of the royal family to be killed in the war, and that is why his name is included. The church and mission had been honoured by visits from Queen Mary before and during the First World War, and the ‘royal connection’ continued with HRH Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother remining patron of West Ham Central Mission until her death and visiting Plaistow in the 1980s.
During the First Battle of Ypres on the 27th of October 1914, the first battalion of the King’s Royal Rifle Corps crossed from Zonnebeke to Broodseinde, to stop the German infantry on the Keiberg. Prince Maurice Victor Donald van Battenberg was lieutenant and commanding officer of the second division of the battalion.
The enemy could see the troops come nearer, but they postponed the attack until they were really close to their position. As soon as the troops had crossed the stream the ‘Heulebeek’, the enemy opened fire from their position on the Keiberg with light weapons and small cannons. There was no escape. The Prince was mortally wounded by shrapnel. The platoon sergeant tried to offer help to the wounded Prince, but to no avail. He died before his men could bring him to safer quarters. The Prince died at the age of 23.
Lord Kitchener suggested the body of Prince Maurice be brought to England, but his mother, Princess Beatrice of England, refused because she knew that her son would have wanted to be buried with his friends. He was buried on the municipal cemetery of Ypres. His tomb is located among civilian graves, right next to the entrance to the British Cemetery Extension.
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